Music

Sonic Creed (Motema)

Saxophonist Bill Pierce has been honored this year by his alma mater Berklee College of Music. He is the Office for the Arts at Harvard's Artist in Residence and will be the featured artist at the upcoming John Coltrane Memorial Concert. Bill spoke to Eric Jackson about his time on the Boston jazz scene, working with Art Blakey, Freddie Hubbard, Stevie Wonder and illustrious career.

Jazz 24/7 from WGBH joined forces with Jazz Night in America to produce this uplifting episode live from Scullers Jazz Club in Boston.

Jason Moran loves to bend the rules. Throughout his career, Moran has displayed a deep respect for Jazz by constantly exploring ways to reinvent it. Along these lines, many of his albums narrate his complicated journey as an inter-disciplinary Black American artist.

When Gianna Botticelli began writing songs at age 14, she never thought she would share them with anybody. “They always felt too personal,” she says. “And even dumb to me at times.”

Dylan Rockoff holds himself to high standards in all aspects of his life – he feels it's important for people to know that no matter where he is, he's constantly trying to get better. "I'll always want to be a more versatile musician," he says. "To write better songs and to play better guitar parts."

Marquis Filthy is a self-made musician who is anything but basic. You can say the same for his music. “There’s a lot of messages, inspiration and emotion,” he says. “I’m a little more conscious in my music, I get bored with shallow stuff fast.”

Ali McGuirk was one of Boston’s best-kept secrets until Boston Globe rock critic Steve Morse selected her, along with Lake Street Dive and Haim among others, as must-hear artists.

Host Brian O'Donovan explores traditional and contemporary music from around the Celtic world, connecting emerging artists to their deep musical roots.

On a cold winter night in Somerville, MA, one of Ireland's most exciting bands, Dervish, played in front of an intimate, but lively sold-out crowd in the backroom of The Burren. "Red-Haired Mary" is from their album Midsummer's Night released in 1999.

At the 2010 show, Robbie O'Connell and Brian O'Donovan discuss the ritual, the song, and the fun that was wrought throughout.

The tradition of the Round Robin continues during this year's Christmas Celtic Sojourn.

Led by Michigan native Ben Schneider, Los Angeles-based Lord Huron bring their unique blend of rock, folk, and pop to a sold-out crowd at the House of Blues. The band has built a steady and growing fanbase since August 2010 when they first performed. With a prominent placement of “The Night We Met” in the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why, they’ve reached a whole new multitude of fans and show no signs of slowing down.

Singer-songwriter Andrew Marlin and multi-instrumentalist Emily Frantz formed Mandolin Orange in Chapel Hill, NC back in 2009. In the years since they’ve built a steady and sizable fanbase around their unique blend of Americana, bluegrass, folk, gospel, country, and pop. A few hundred fortunate WGBH members got the chance to experience this special performance by Andrew and Emily (along with their full touring band) in our intimate Fraser Performance Studio.

Tanya Donelly (Throwing Muses, Breeders) formed Belly in 1992. Their debut album, Star, went gold propelled by the hit single, "Feed the Tree". The group disbanded in 1996, but they reunited in 2016 and released their new album, Dove, this year. A sold out crowd came out on a rainy Tuesday night here in our intimate Fraser Performance Studio to reminisce with the old classics and take in the new.

Fresh off spending two weeks at a songwriting workshop on Nantucket, Denver-based singer-songwriter Brent Cowles joined us in our Fraser Performance Studio. Cowles achieved minor success with the band You, Me & Apollo then set out on a solo career.